1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automated method of determining receipt of a private pay telephone designation by an interexchange carrier.
2. Description of the Related Art
A private pay telephone is a telephony device owned by private individuals and/or corporations, known as payphone service providers (PSP), designed for communicating voice and/or TTY calls connected to a public switched telephone network via a local exchange carrier (LEC).
When a call is made from a private pay telephone, several numbers and codes are sent from the LEC to the public switched telephone network. These numbers and codes are used for several purposes in the public switched telephone network, one specifically being to identify the unit as a private pay telephone. The identification of the calling telephone as a private pay telephone to the Interexchange Carrier is important, as the PSP receives Dial-Around Compensation.
Dial-Around Compensation is the payment made to the PSP by the Interexchange Carriers for toll-free calls made from their equipment in which the PSP receives no coin revenue. An example is an 800-number prepaid calling card providing for a reduced long distance rate. For the PSP to receive the Dial-Around Compensation, the Interexchange Carrier must receive the proper identifying code from the private pay telephone.
The current method of verifying the receipt of the proper identifying code by the Interexchange Carrier is for the PSP to send a technician to each telephone, who calls a separate number for each Interexchange Carrier and listens to an automated response. This method is costly, time consuming, and introduces a human error element. In addition, the technician can only check a limited number of telephones per day.
Thus, an automated method of determining receipt of private pay telephone designation by an Interexchange Carrier solving the aforementioned problems is desired.